Crumbling
by crazykittymomma
Summary: Hiccup is not holding himself together well without Toothless. Astrid has to step in and help him work through the emotions.


Hiccup wanted to sleep. Really he did. But, every time he laid down to, instantly his mind would begin to race. Thoughts of what needed to be done within the village in the upcoming days would fill his head. And, then there would be sub-thoughts bouncing through his mind.

"Keep a parchment and charcoal by your desk," Astrid had suggested weeks ago. She'd seen the candle burning in the window late one night and came over to inspect. "That way, if a thought came to mind, you can write it down and forget about it."

This had sounded like an excellent idea at the time. The following night Hiccup did just that. He'd made sure to eat a good dinner, do what he needed to do before settling into bed earlier than usual. He'd planned on getting a good night's sleep.

Then, he'd get a thought, write it down, then turn over and lay himself back down to get comfortable. A moment later, another thought would cross his mind. Conversations he'd had with the villagers, their requests he'd just remember right as he'd fall asleep. Inquiries he'd look into for them. He'd jot down a few more notes, then scoot himself across the side of the bed farthest away from the table supporting the charcoal and parchment.

After taking in a few deep breaths, he'd finally felt relaxed enough to go to sleep...

Five minutes later, he woke with a start, fighting the blanket to get across the bed to write down that he needed to find another location to build yet another well. Tossing his charcoal to the table with force, trying to slow his fast breathing, he sighed.

When Toothless was around, sleep seemed to have come much easier. Not only did Hiccup feel safer inside his home, but he also felt less lonely. And he hadn't been dreading each day waking up to face the village...again, feeling utterly alone in the world.

He knew he truly wasn't alone. Astrid was by his side almost instantly every morning, reading his notes, his lists, asking for duties to help him. Fishlegs often helped as well, or what he could do, Astrid would delegate to him. Snotlout, with some convincing and bribing from Valka, would eventually do something to help Hiccup with the village. Finding something for the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, was another chore. Hiccup often felt as though he was still trying to keep them on a leash most of the time.

"Babysitting," his mother had called it one time.

Nearly three hours of trying to fall asleep, Hiccup had enough. He groaned in annoyance and decided to pull on his body armer...

But paused. He was gearing up for a flight around the island...What he and Toothless often did when Hiccup felt restless. Toothless wasn't there. Toothless was with the Lightfury, doing who-knew-what in the Hidden World.

Hiccup growled angrily. Trying to control his breathing, he reached for his prosthetic, attached it to his stump, and headed towards his bedroom door.

Down the stairs he descended, taking them at a bit of a run. Out the door he rushed, and picking up his pace, he started running down the freshly completed walkway of the New Berk.

For a moment he didn't know where he was going to go. He knew he didn't want to stay inside his home. He couldn't go down to the dock and sit by the water...They were still working on steps down the tall island walls to create a dock. There was no cove discovered. No lake to go sit at. There were homes that needed roofs placed on still, but it was too late to just be hammering away. Timber to chop for more homes. Coordinates to chart for their allies...

Hiccup shook his head and slowed his speed. Leaning down, gripping his knees, he struggled to breathe. Tears welled up into his eyes, wishing his buddy was still with him. Keeping him on the island would have been dangerous for them all...dragons and villagers alike. Letting Toothless go was the most selfless thing he'd ever had to do. He knew if he'd ask Toothless to stay, he probably would have. Although, his poor best friend would have felt torn between protecting the human world and the dragon world.

"You've looked after us long enough..."

Those words echoed in Hiccup's mind. Toothless had. Without Toothless, Hiccup wouldn't have been able to even be considered Chief. He was certain that Snotlout and Spitelout would have forced the duty away from him as soon as his father had passed if Toothless hadn't come into his life.

Without even really thinking, Hiccup had started walking slowly along the village path. On both sides of him were freshly built homes for all of the villagers. More than half of his village was still deep into the woods sleeping in tents. It had been two seasons since they'd arrived onto the New Berk and they were behind. Hiccup's hope was that everyone would have a home to stay in by the time winter would set in.

To Hiccup, that hope was slowly diminishing with each issue that came up. He felt as though he'd fix one and five more would follow as soon as he turned around to correct the next.

There was no end...

How his father did the job with his head held high each day, Hiccup didn't know. All of Hiccup's childhood, he'd woken up bright and early in the morning and find his father at the table looking over paperwork, his list, etc. When Hiccup would go to bed, if his father was there to put him to bed, informed him to stay put and not leave...usually while he'd leave again and go take care of the sheep, rebuild a home that was destroyed by a dragon...He would be up before Hiccup would be and would be asleep after Hiccup.

The older Hiccup became, the later he'd stay up, and he'd hear when his father slipped into bed. Hiccup would often hear him get up as well, discovering that his father actually was never up much earlier than he himself was. But, still...his father made everything look easy.

Stoick the Vast was a large, strong man. His fire red hair had made him look more intimidating than he really was, Hiccup realized when he grew older. Perhaps that was why Hiccup had started putting his toe out of line in his teens, only to discover that his father really was scary when he was set off by his son's obsession into proving himself to be just as good as his father...despite his size.

As a boy his father had tried to teach him how to sword fight and would grow impatient because Hiccup was over-analyzing every bit of it.

"Just pick it up and swing!" his father had told him repeatedly.

Eventually his father had wanted to move onto the real weapon. Yet, instead Hiccup had been fearful he'd accidentally would hurt his father and had refused to practice with it.

Then, his father had given up or became too busy in the village to help him...most likely just gave up.

Astrid had been the one to properly teach him when they were sixteen.

"I have a dragon," Hiccup had said to her, wanting to shove it off. "I don't need a sword." He favored his shield, however.

"Yes, but what if you become separated from Toothless," she said, and had continued to shove the handle of the wooden sword into his hand.

"Point made."

Without Astrid, Hiccup wouldn't properly be able to defend the village. She was patient with him, talked to him about properly wielding the sword, what to watch for in an opponent. During their sessions they did not escape being bruised or without a cut here or there. Once Hiccup had feared he had stabbed her with the actual pointy-end of the sword but he'd only accidentally elbowed her in the ribs. Eventually, he'd learned how to move with the extension...just like he'd learned how to re-walk on the prosthetic.

As Hiccup walked the shadows of the trees began to grow in the darkness. Eventually, Hiccup walked to the door of the forge. Lifting his head to glare at it, he sighed.

The forge had been his safe place nearly ten years ago. It was where he'd go when his father was out on a mission and would leave Gobber to deal with him. Gobber took the duty with confidence, often telling Hiccup stories about his mother and father while he worked, often asking Hiccup to fetch a tool for him just to give him something to do.

"Give him a sense of helpful'nis," he remembered Gobber saying to Stoick upon returning one day.

And then he'd became the apprentice.

His hand touched the door knob gently, and he pushed it open.

The layout was a complete copy of the one back on Old Berk. Gobber was open to new things...but when it came down to the forge he was not. He liked the old home he had. He'd done a decent job at replicating it as well. Right down to the shelving on the wall. He'd even created the tiny back room where Hiccup used to sketch and fiddle with small pieces of scrap metal. He'd learned how to make nails while Gobber made swords and bludgeons. Eventually, he proceeded to large and bigger items, becoming almost as good as Gobber even in his young age.

Hiccup settled himself down on a stool in the back room, resting his elbows on the empty desk and leaning into his hand with exhaustion. He stared at the wall in front of him, and his eyes laid on an old sketch he'd forgotten he'd made years ago. Gobber had apparently pocketed it in their urgency to leave their old home. He could see the creases in the parchment from being folded recently and smoothed back out.

The sketch was of Toothless's first tail. At one point Hiccup had sat in the forge late at night while his father had been searching for the nest creating the tail. He'd sketched, thrown away parchment, sketched some more...and eventually had settled for the design staring back at him. And, had started to construct it.

"The good ol' days," he said with a sigh.

Moments passed, and he found he could no longer sit and stare at the memory. Leaving the little desk, he walked over towards the fire and stared at it, taking a seat on the work bench close by. Gobber had been working on nails endlessly. Four large bins sat next to the table, only one was not completely filled. Hiccup picked one up and rubbed a finger along the length of it, then eventually sat it down on the table and began rolling it around under the palm of his hand absently. His mind was relaxing, and he found himself not even completing thoughts.

"Hammer...nails...wedding...treaty...ring...twins...headache...hunger...pain...Mom..."

Suddenly, he felt the table rattle, and he gasped looking around himself. He didn't have to look very far. Astrid was standing directly in front of him, leaning over the table. Her blue eyes held an expression of worry and concern.

"Hiccup-"

"What are you doing awake?" he asked, his voice cracking suddenly.

"I should ask you the same thing-"

"I am awake because your mother came over and informed me that you'd left the house quickly - you didn't even say anything to her - "

"She was in bed - "

"No, Hiccup," Astrid said pressingly. "She was talking to you from the kitchen table - "

Hiccup hadn't paid any mind to anything or anyone when he'd left the house. He'd just - left.

"I have a lot on my mind," he replied to her. His tone was more gentle than it had been. Much more gentle than he felt under his flesh.

Astrid took a seat across from him. She picked up the nail from between his fingers and threw it back into it's barrel.

"You should sleep," Astrid said to him.

"I can't," he breathed. "Mind won't stop -"

"What would help?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup felt a laugh escape his lips. Then realized Astrid didn't find whatever went through his head amusing. Wait, she didn't know what kind of thought had gone through his head.

"What I need is not obtainable," Hiccup sighed.

Astrid put her head down, feeling defeated. "A flight."

Hiccup nodded.

"Well, you could strap on that flight suit - " Astrid began but stopped. She knew that they could, but getting back up to the village would have been difficult. There was no dock to land on, no stairs built to climb back up. And, it would have taken them hours to climb just for a minute or two of gliding down.

"I just need to find somewhere else to focus my tension," he said. His shoulders hunched worse at the thought of this. Glancing back at Astrid, he could see the worry on her face. He watched her a moment, then said, "I don't mean to worry you - or Mom."

She made eye contact with him again. No smile spread across her face. No excitement showed in her pretty eyes. Just concern and fear...and perhaps a glimmer of tears welling up in the corner of her eyes...Or was Hiccup mistaken?

"We know you feel as though you have a lot on your plate," Astrid said. "But, you shouldn't feel like this. There's Gobber, your Mom, Eret, and - "

"Astrid - there's thousands of bodies on this island," Hiccup sighed. "I know we have plenty of help - and you guys are a major help especially -" he said, reaching for her hand. "I'm just not coping well without -"

He did not need to continue. Astrid knew what he was leading up to.

Hiccup laughed nervously suddenly. "I feel like a child."

"Why is that?" Astrid asked him.

"I just feel vulnerable," he admitted. "I am not used to sleeping in my room alone anymore -"

"Perhaps we need to get you a cat -"

They shared a laugh, and Hiccup reached for her hand, holding it. He felt Astrid's palm wrap around his thumb.

"A cat is not what I need," he breathed. "I wish you were there with me."

This pained Astrid. He could see the look on her face. They'd already discussed this multiple times over the last month.

"We agreed on winter," she said after a moment.

"We did."

"I am to remain in your mother's home until we marry, Hiccup," Astrid said. "It's only a few more months. Once we marry Valka and I will switch homes -"

"Astrid, I know the plan. I know the schedule - I wrote it out."

"Yes," Astrid said. "We need to stick with that. That's the only reasonable time we can get married -"

Hiccup sighed. "I am sorry. I'm just struggling tonight."

She gave his thumb a squeeze. "I know." She glanced around the forge. "How about we go for a walk instead of sitting in here. It's too warm -"

Hiccup hadn't noticed the sweat welling up under his armor until he moved. He allowed Astrid to lead him out of the forge by the hand, and he closed the door behind themselves.

...

Their walk had been a quiet one. They held hands for a bit - then stopped to admire some of Gobber's handy-work in the village square. A statue of his father was nearly completed. Hiccup hadn't paid much mind to it until Astrid pointed it out to him. The lanterns overshadowed it's crevices, however Hiccup was amazed with the specific details Gobber and a few helping hands had done under his supervision.

They walked along the village, Hiccup pausing to make note of a few of the minor uncompleted portions of certain homes.

"I forgot to fix the framing on the door -"

"Hiccup - the man of the home is more than capable of finalizing the framework -" Astrid had began.

Of course she was correct. Ninety percent of the male villagers could have done the small minor details to complete their homes. He knew the homes were more than suitable for the families that were moving into them. However, he felt more than the typical obligation as a chief to make sure the owners didn't have to do much themselves.

"Why are you so concerned over this?" Astrid asked him after pulling him away from the final home they were passing. Hiccup had bent down to clean up some spare boards lying around.

She saw the sudden concern wash over her face when she looked at him. He knew he was not hiding his expressions very well. He was too tired and too consumed to be concerned with hiding his expression.

"I dragged them here, Astrid!" he said slightly louder than he should have. "I dragged these families from their homes to save the dragons - "

Astrid stared at him for a moment. He watched her arms wrap around her body, as if trying to warm herself up from the cold. Hiccup knew this body language. She was growing anxious, nervous and concerned. She often wrapped into herself as though trying to shield herself from being emotionally hurt.

"Hiccup - you cannot let that guilt weigh over you anymore," she said very quietly." With a pause, she continued. "We all had connections with those dragons. We all bonded with one dragon or another. They were like our family, Hiccup." He saw the tears coming to her eyes but she refused to let them flow openly down her face. "We all would have left the island for those dragons. Especially, our own. We outgrew our island. Here - had we all stayed together - there would have been plenty of room."

Silence separated them for a moment when Hiccup turned his body so that his side was facing her. He rubbed the back of his head nervously as he tried to hold his composure.

"But the plan changed, Hiccup. And, that wasn't your fault. After the battle - we all knew what needed to be done. We were all tired - "

"Maybe we could have tried harder - maybe Toothless could have convinced those dragons in the Hidden World about us - "

Astrid shook her head and sighed, wrapping her arms more tightly around herself.

"You are not thinking clearly, babe," she said quietly.

"I just wish it hadn't had to change - " Hiccup said just as quietly. His voice was a quivering whisper now. "I wish I would have thought of something better to keep us all together."

"One of these days we will go find Toothless, Hiccup." Astrid's hand rested on his arm. "I promise. Once the dragon hunters stop searching for the Hidden World - once the travelers stop talking about them searching and continuing to look for it - once we know we are safe, I promise you we will go back and see them."

Hiccup's eyes glanced at her.

"You mean that?" he asked.

"Of course," Astrid said, her voice breaking. "Hiccup, our kids will know dragons. Even if it's just for a day. I won't let them not know what brought their parents together - "

Hiccup felt a smile begin to come to the side of his lips.

" - and know the same butterfly feelings we have when we are about to take a flight. I miss it, too, Hiccup. I miss them. I miss sneaking chicekn from the Great Hall for Stormfly. I miss us trying to hide Toothless's tuna from him so he had breakfast the next morning - I -"

Hiccup embraced her before her voice completely cracked, and together they cried silent tears - both willing themselves to heal the cracks in their composure. After a moment, Hiccup pulled away from her and looked into her watery blue eyes.

"I love you - you know that right?"

Astrid pushed him in the chest playfully - although her strength pushed him farther backwards than she had intended as usual. His prosthetic didn't catch onto the dirt path correctly and he fell backwards, landing hard onto the ground. Hiccup stifled a wince as his shoulder and elbow throbbed instantly in pain.

Seconds later, Astrid was bent down at his side, supporting herself on her haunches as she surveyed the damage she had done.

"You okay?" Astrid asked him, her voice monotoned. Unless he was severely hurt, she never let her voice crack when he'd fall like this. She loved seeing him beg for mercy when she'd playfully tease him - often holding his arm behind his back before he'd finally agree with her with whatever they were arguing about.

Hiccup nodded in reply, and a moment later allowed her to help him stand again - the pain in his elbow and shoulder nearly unnoticeable already.

Without another word between each other, they gently took hands and headed back down the pathway towards Hiccup's house.

...

Even though it was very late into the night, and both were extremely exhausted, they sat at the fire in the kitchen area, sipping tea Valka had made for them, talking into the night. Astrid hugged a small sheepskin pillow around her middle as she and Hiccup talked about plans for the new village club house - there would be no "true" Great Hall as there had been before. There were no large hillsides to carve into to create one - and after previous experiences from their days living on The Edge and the crazy adventures - they agreed there would be less likely a cave in to happen with a club house.

"Is that where you want to get married at?" Hiccup asked her suddenly, leaning onto his right hip, supporting his weight with his free hand.

Astrid shrugged. "I'm not good at this stuff."

"And you think I am?" he asked her with a laugh. "Outside of my mother, I don't know anyone who's ever been married personally. Especially with such a high profile wedding like we need to have." He sighed. "I wish we could just run away together and not worry about inviting the whole village to attend."

"It won't be that bad," Astrid sighed, exhaustion beginning to take over her body. Lying down sounded good to her aching muscles.

Hiccup sighed. "I just hope it meets up to the village standards - "

Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Hiccup - how about instead of worrying about what the village people think - how about worrying what you think for once."

He looked back at her sheepishly.

"What is something you want at the wedding?" Astrid asked him.

Hiccup looked at her with guilty eyes. "Our dragons."

Astrid sighed. Hiccup could tell she was growing tired of trying to draw his thoughts away from Toothless tonight. Although, Hiccup felt he was making her as equally depressed as he was now - sucking her down into his deepest dispare.

"I am sorry," he said gently.

A moment passed by them.

"When was the last time you sketched?" Astrid asked him.

Taking a sip of his tea, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Sketched?" he said.

"Yeah - you used to draw all the time - " He watched her weakly pull herself to her feet and headed upstairs towards his loft.

"Uh - Astrid - " Hiccup picked up her abandoned mug and following behind her, taking the steps two at a time. He found her at his desk rummaging through it for a few pieces of spare parchment.

"I have some here," Hiccup began. He sat down on the bed and picked up the pieces he'd left on the nightstand. Astrid came over and sat down as well, holding out what she had gathered. She provided a book for a hard surface to sketch on.

Hiccup felt her eyes on him as he reached for the charcoal and placed it onto the paper. His mind drew a blank. He had no idea even where to begin. And, with Astrid looking at him, he felt a little self-conscious.

"Do you know what this club house is going to look like?" Astrid asked him, picking up the conversation they had abandoned downstairs.

"I have a few ideas. But I haven't exactly mapped them out."

"Well - now is your chance. I want to see."

Hiccup went on to describing his ideas, Astrid pushing him to put a visual to his words. Sketching took a bit of time to get aquatinted with again. It dawned on Hiccup he hadn't sketched since he had redesigned Toothless's independent tail fin just a day prior to his departure from New Berk. He didn't mention this to Astrid - and he felt saying it aloud may have depressed him even more.

At some point Astrid had leaned closer to him to watch him sketch, getting more comfortable against his pillows as she did. A little while later, while he was drawing and explaining what each piece of the building were to look like he realized that Astrid was sound asleep beside him.

Yet, he remained awake.

He absently shaded some areas of the club house, becoming lost in his thoughts while he listened to her synchronized breathing close to him. Recalling pieces of her conversation, he thought about what she had said to him just an hour before.

"Hiccup - how about instead of worrying about what the village people think - how about worrying what you think for once."

No one had mentioned that in the past months since Toothless left. Hiccup had barely had time to think about what he wanted. His main concern was everyone else...

Pushing the blue prints of the club house aside, he placed the charcoal to the paper again, and sighed. He wanted to start making a list of things that he wanted. But, instead found himself wondering about the dragons again. He wanted - no, he needed Toothless to be there with them. Close to his heart just as the dragon would always remain.

His heart skipped a beat, and he began sketching feeling excited for once about something...

...

Astrid woke with a panic. Sitting straight up in bed, the blankets and furs fell down beside her. She was in Hiccup's room. But, why?

The previous night came flooding back to her, and she glanced around looking for him. But, he was no where in the room. Judging by the light coming in through the window, she felt that it had to be mid-morning. Panic flooded through her again, and she was on her feet. She had promised Valka she would help with arranging Gothi's medicine cabinets that morning.

She had to give Valka credit. She was probably the only person in the village that could take Gothi with patience. If Valka wasn't there to help smooth things with Gothi when one thing became out of line - Astrid would have lost her patience rather quickly.

"I will handle Gothi's anxiety," Valka said. "I just need a hand with arranging."

She rushed down the stairs and headed towards the door before she heard something move behind her in the kitchen area. Valka was positioning herself into her chair at the table, a mug of what Astrid assumed was tea sat in front of her.

"I am sorry - " Astrid began, but Valka waved her off with a smile.

"No reason to be, dear," she said to Astrid. "I know you were up late dealing with Hiccup."

Astrid nodded, but then a realization came to her. "Where is he? Did he sleep at all - I need to go find him - "

"He is at the forge, Astrid. And no, I do not believe he has slept."

"The forge?" Astrid said alarmingly. "He shouldn't be in there working - "

"Gobber told him the same thing - Hiccup didn't listen. So, Gobber is babysitting him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

Even though Valka was telling Astrid this, she seemed less alarmed than Astrid was feeling. It was eery.

"If you wouldn't mind taking him this hot mug and a slice of bread for me - " Valka began. "It would be appreciated."

"Uh, yeah, I can."

The walk to the forge took a bit as Astrid needed to weave around people walking the path as they worked on the homes. Eret had stopped her along the way, asking her to send Hiccup his way when he had a moment. With a nod, Astrid continued on towards the forge.

Upon entering the forge, Astrid saw Hiccup had been busy. Tools laid all over the shop. It appeared as though Gobber was going behind Hiccup picking up after him.

"Hi, mi'lady," Hiccup said to her with a large smile. Despite the bags that hung under his eyes he looked all right. He actually seemed to be happy.

"Thank Gods you are here!" Gobber said to Astrid. "Talk some sense into his thick skull! He's makin' a mess out of me shop!"

"Any idea what he is working on?" Astrid asked Gobber, setting the package that Valka had asked her to deliver onto the table.

"Not a clue," Gobber breathed. "I'been too busy picking up behind him - "

Astrid sighed. "I will take it from here - "

"ASTRID!"

Suddenly, Hiccup was at her side, grabbing her by the crook in her right arm and dragging her over towards a work bench. He sat her down at the stool, and rushed around towards the fire to grab something.

"Hiccup - you need to settle down - "

"Almost done!" Hiccup said excitedly, and he sat down two mugs of what appeared to be molted stone in front of Astrid. Then, from his pocket he pulled two rather small circles of wood and placed them onto the table. For a moment Astrid didn't know what she was looking at in front of her. Then, she turned to Hiccup and gapped at him.

"Are those dragon scales?" she asked him.

He nodded a bit. "Truth be told - I saved some from all of our dragons before we left Berk - I collected most of them from the stables - "

Astrid went to speak, but Hiccup interrupted.

"Don't worry because I didn't melt them all. Just two for this - "

Astrid sat and watched Hiccup drop the scales into the centers of the wooden circles. The dark blue hue of Stormfly's scales looked like marble with all her various shades of blues and greens. She liked the effect the melted scales were making on the outline. Due to her tiredness, Hiccup was nearly down with the outline on the wooden circle before she realized what Hiccup had been up to.

He'd carved the images of their dragons into the circles. Hiccup had a knack for creativity, so his versions of their dragons were very artsy - far past the wall graffiti she was used to seeing.

"So this is Stormfly," she said with her voice cracking.

Hiccup nodded at her. "And the other one is Toothless."

He carefully pushed Stormfly aside and rearranged his work to begin Toothless's. Astird noted the suddenly somber look on his face as he worked on the details involving his dragon.

"Astrid - " he said quietly. "You asked me about what I wanted for our wedding yesterday..."

He tailed off for a moment.

"I did," Astrid said to him, waiting for him to continue.

He swallowed. "Well - would it be okay if we wore these in some fashion?"

Astrid looked at both of the little wooden pieces. When she didn't speak right away Hiccup started talking.

"I mean - if you don't want to wear them, maybe we can keep them on the hearth of the fire place - no they wouldn't be safe there. Or, how about we - "

Astrid was on her feet suddenly, wrapping Hiccup in a tight embrace. She felt how rigid he truly was, and wished for him to calm down.

"Hiccup - we can wear them," she said, more emotion showing coming from her throat as she spoke. "I love them."

"Really?" Hiccup asked her, finally relaxing slightly in her arms.

"Yes," she breathed.

Moments later, Astrid pulled away from him. "Now - this is what I want from you - "

"What's that?" Hiccup asked her.

"I want you to go home and catch some sleep - "

Hiccup went to object.

"No!" Astrid said to him. "Go home and crawl into bed and take a nap."

"Well, at least let me clean up the place - "

"Absolutely not!" Gobber bellowed from the other side of the room. Astrid knew he was eaves dropping. He came over to them, and pointed his nub of a hand into Hiccup's chest. "You, laddy, are coming with me to your home. You will do as yer betrothed tells you."

"You can't make me, Gobber," Hiccup egged him.

Suddenly, Gobber had Hiccup over his shoulder and was carrying him towards the door. Astrid laughed loudly as she watched Hiccup try to squirm out of his grip.

"C'mon, Gobber," Hiccup said. "Let me walk out of here with some dignity."

"And then you take off on foot when you know perf'ctly well I cannot catch ye'? Nope!" He turned to Astrid before he headed out of the door with their Chief over his shoulder. "Would ye' mind cleaning up around 'ere a bit before I return, Astrid?"

"I will do my best," she said, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Astrid - "

"Sleep well, Hiccup," she said softly, and Gobber was headed out the door.

A moment of silence stayed with Astrid as she tried to collect her thoughts. She turned back to the medallions and smiled. Not only did Hiccup do something for himself...But he had started the next step into preparing their future together.

...

**I do not believe I have posted this one yet. I have searched through my story list and I know I had a one shot lingering for some time that I needed to post. I believe this one is it - but I could be wrong.**

**I still have not watched the new short - plenty of little things I want to watch but the time is keeping me away from it. My husband and I are now on separate shifts. I work Monday through Friday for my full time - he is working Saturday, Sunday and Monday now - which may present more time to write. He just started weekends this past weekend and cleaning the house and crocheting orders cannot keep me busy forever. I am excited at the thought of getting back into my fanfiction. I have been struggling with some content. And, when I struggle I have been going back to my novel I have been working on for the last 6 months - I just can't seem to get the flow right for the beginning. I can't put my thoughts down in words. Hopefully something will click.**

**I hope you enjoy this fic!**


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